Leccinum tablense Halling & G.M.Muell.

Description

Latin diagnosis: Pileus griseo-brunneus interdum maculis albis aequus vel foveatus irregulariter vel areolatus, margine non-appendiculato, hyphis pileipellis cellulosis et hymeniformis, trama pileo et stipitis immutabilis, caulocystdiis orientibus hyphis isodiametricis. Sub Quercus in montibus Cordillera Talamanca Costa Ricae.

Description: Pileus 2--4.5 cm broad, at first convex, with age plano-convex, moist, even or irregularly pitted at first, remaining irregularly pitted and sometimes becoming areolate; light grayish brown or tan (6E6-5-4), sometimes with irregularly distributed white zones; margin even; surface subvelutinous, becoming subtomentose; sterile appendiculate flaps absent. Flesh 6--8 mm thick, white, staining absent; odor mild; taste mild. Hymenophore tubulose, depressed. Tubes 9--14 mm long, white, becoming orangish white (5A2), unchanging when injured; pores 1 mm wide, white, then orangish white, unchanging when injured. Stipe 5--8 cm long, 5--8 mm wide, equal to subclavate, strict, dry; upper half when young finely scabrous, white, with age scabrous, white; lower half when young subscabrous ridged, white, with age subscabrous ridged to scabrous, white; scabers on upper half when young gray to black, with age black, on lower half when young dark gray or black, with age black; base white, staining not present. Stipe interior solid or soon hollow; flesh above white, staining not present, with age whitish yellow at base, staining not present. Basal mycelium white.

: Basidiospores 14--16 × 5--5.6 µm, Q = 2.83, smooth, fusoid to subfusoid, mostly inamyloid (a few dextrinoid), light brown melleous in KOH. Basidia 28--35 × 12--14 µm, clavate, hyaline in KOH, lightly dextrinoid, 4-sterigmate. Hymenial cystidia 55--70 × 10--15 µm, more common towards edge of tubes, thin walled, hyaline, subfusoid to narrowly fusoid, encrusting pigment absent. Tube trama boletoid, hyaline to golden yellow, lateral strata elements 3.5--8 µm wide, subgelatinous. Pileipellis hyphae hymeniform and forming a palisade (several cells deep), in KOH yellow ochraceous, inamyloid; elements 12--20 µm wide, subelongate to subisodiametric or cellular, smooth, thin walled, not gelatinized. Intercalary cells isodiametric to subisodiametric, 12--28 µm broad. Pileus trama interwoven, hyaline, inamyloid, with elements 3.5--14 µm wide, smooth, thin walled. Stipitipellis hyphae vertically oriented, parallel, giving rise to clusters of caulocystidia, clavate to subclavate, or irregularly ventricose, typically subtended by isodiametric cells, with pale gray brown contents or hyaline, with encrusting pigment absent. Stipe trama hyphae parallel, cylindric, hyaline, inamyloid. Clamp connections absent.

Habit, habitat, and distribution: gregarious on soil under Quercus seemannii in the Cordillera Talamanca.

Material examined: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Coto Brus, Las Mellizas, Zona Protectora Las Tablas, Finca La Cafrosa, camino a portones por El Tajo, 8°55'34''N, 82°46'0"W; 1475 m, 7 Jun 2001, Halling 8136 (Holotype: USJ; Isotype: NY).

Commentary: Leccinum tablense vaguely recalls features of L. talamancae, but unlike that taxon, it does not exhibit any oxidation reactions in the exposed flesh: pink to reddish orange in the pileus and upper part of the stipe and the blue green to deep blue in the lower part of the stipe. The hymeniform nature of the pileipellis is also reminiscent of L. talamancae, but in lieu of a description of fresh material, they can be distinguished by spore size (14--16 × 5--5.6 µm for L. tablense, and 17.5--22.4 × 4.9--6.3 µm for L. talamancae). Leccinum tablense would also fit the circumscription of subsect. Pseudoscabra as recently outlined by Lannoy and Estades (1995).

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Leccinum tablense (image/jpeg)

Leccinum tablense (image/jpeg)